This invention relates to a quick clamping hand tool for temporarily clamping armored cable or shielded conduit such as BX cable and the like. It relates specifically to an improvement in the means for clamping the cable and adjusting the clamping mechanism to accommodate different sizes of cable. The quick clamping tool is particularly suited for temporarily clamping the cable in the proper position to have its armor cut longitudinally by a circular saw as in the Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,387, issued Dec. 3, 1974 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,819, issued Nov. 23, 1982, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,387 and the improvement thereon shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,819 have been extremely successful in replacing the use of hacksaws in the cutting of shielded conduits so that the shielding can be cut without the blade touching the conduit or cable materials below the shielding. This is particularly important when it is desired to cut shielded electrical conduit such as BX cable, since the shielding is metallic or of other tough material which is difficult to cut without slipping with the resultant possibility of injury to an operator and the material below the shielding. it is important therefore to be able to maintain the cutter head in a rigid and fixed relationship to the shielding while at the same time guarding against injury to the operator or to the conduit. While the patented tools are adaptable to different gauge conduits, the present invention provides a simpler construction with an improved mechanism for providing adjustment for different size conduits and also incorporates features to prevent overstressing of the clamping mechanism during use.